Mount making method



Nov. 16, 1965 5 sw s Y ETAL 3,217,380

MOUNT MAKING METHOD 3 SheetsSheet 1 FIG. 3

Original Filed 00 27. 1960 FIG.2

Y n L G A B R L 4 EW 4 W I 0 N LID m 6 K a 2 a & A m we 4 b o d 2 C 6 2 G F INVENTORS ATTORNE Nov. 16, 1965 s. E. SWASEY ETAL MOUNT MAKING METHOD 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 2' 1960 FIG FIG. IO

FIG. ll

SAMUEL E. SWASEY KENTON R. BAGLEY INVENTORS BY 6 ATTORN Y Nov. 16, 1965 s. E. SWASEY ETAL 3,217,380

MOUNT MAKING METHOD Original Filed Oct. 27. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 SAMUEL E. SWASEY KENTON R. BAGLEY INVENTORS A TORN Y lead-in wire.

United States Patent Office 3,217,380 Patented Nov. 16, 1965 3,217,380 MOUNT MAKING METHOD Samuel E. Swasey, Edgemare-Marblehead, and Kenton R. Bagley, Beverly, Mass., assignors to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., a corporation of Delaware Original application Oct. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 65,426, now Patent No. 3,156,843, dated Nov. 10, 1964. Divided and this application Dec. 2, 1963, Ser. No. 333,251

4 Claims. (Cl. 29-25.16)

I This application is a division of our application, S.N. 65,426, filed October 27, 1960, now US. Patent 3,156,843 which issued November 10, 1964.

This invention relates to the manufacture of incandescent lamps and more particularly to the fabrication of a mount structure for so-called 3-lite lamps and the like. Lamps of this type are provided with two filaments mechanically and electrically connected in such a manner that, in combination with suitable switching means, light of different intensities may be obtained. For example, a 30-70100 Watt lamp of this type is one which is provided with a 30 watt filament and a 70 watt filament. The mechanical and electrical mount structure on the one .hand and the aforesaid switching means on the other the 30 watt filament, the 70 watt filament or both in combination to provide an effective 100 watt filament.

The "principal object of this invention is to provide a mount making method for a 3-lite lamp in which both filaments are disposed vertically.

This and other objects, advantages and features are obtained, in accordance with the principles of our invention, by new and novel mount manufacturing techniques. In the fabrication of this mount structure only three leadin wires are fed to the head of the machine on which the fabricating operations are performed, despite the fact that four wires are required, two for each of the two filaments. This is a significant improvement over the art because it eliminates one article-feeding operation. This is preferably accomplished by initially feeding a long lead-in wire and then in a series of fabricating steps forming and severing from the free end thereof an extra short wire. .Alternately, the long lead-in wire may be provided with a hook portion intermediate its ends as well as a hook portion-at the free end thereof, in which case one end of each of the two filaments would be secured to one of these two hook portions of the common Another novel technique employed in the fabrication of our new mount structure is the manner in which the assemblage of mount components is provided with a pair of filament support wires. In accordance withour invention a length of filament support wire, from which two filament support wires are to be formed, is fed in substantially hairpin shape to the head of the machine at about the same time as the other mount components are fed, and in subsequent fabrication operations the adjacent free ends of this wire are sealed in spaced relationship in the stem press, the bight of the hairpin is severed and the free ends so defined are looped around their respective filaments and thereby provide-two separate filament support wires. This is also a significant contribution to the art since it renders unnecessary the use of a filament support wire inserting apparatus widely used in the industry in the manufacture of this type of lamp.

Other novel techniques in the mount fabrication method will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description below of a specific embodiment of our invention.

In the accompanying drawings, FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the mount components showing the relative position occupied by them after they have been fed to a head of the mount fabrication machine and before any operations have been performed thereon.

FIGURES 2 to 14 inclusive are fragmentary elevational views of the assemblage of mount components illustrating a preferred sequence of fabricating steps employed to manufacture the mount.

FIGURE 15 is an elevational view on an enlarged scale of the complete mount.

In the manufacture of the mount of this invention illustra'ted in FIGURE 15, all of the article feeding operations and the article fabricating operations are performed automatically on an apparatus of the type disclosed in US. Patent 2,637,144 issued to R. M. Gardner et al. on May 5, 1953. The apparatus employed in the manufacture of the mount structure of this invention is similar to that shown in the referenced patent except that the apparatus is larger, provided With more heads, and provided with a number of article working devices and tools to perform the various fabricating operations described -below.

Suitable article feeding devices are employed to provide each head of the machine with the several mount components shown in FIGURE 1, namely a long lead-in wire 2, a length of filament support wire fed and shaped in substantially hairpin configuration and hereinafter referred to as the hairpin 4, a pair of short lead-in wires 6 and 8, a stem 10 and an exhaust tube 12. It will be noted that the stem 10 of FIGURE 1 and succeeding figures is provided with a dot 14. The actual article is not normally so provided but the illustrations thereof in the drawings have been provided with this dot in order to facilitate an understanding of the relative disposition of the articles of work during the fabricating operations.

With the articles of work disposed in the relative position as shown in FIGURE 1, conventional stem working operations are performed thereon, namely heating of an end of the stem to a plastic state and then shaping the glass so heated in a press to definea stem press 16 shown in subsequent figures. It will be noted that the free ends of the hairpin 4 in FIGURE 1 extend a short distance inside the stem. When the adjacent area of the stem 10 is heated and the stem press is formed, these free ends of the hairpin will be sealed therein and thus define, as will be described below, two spaced ends of two separate filament support Wires. The stem press is preferably of the three-cornered type as shown particularly in FIGURE 15 so that the work components sealed therein will extend therefrom in the relative positions thereof shown in FIGURE 15, i.e., the short lead-in Wire 6 emerges from one corner of the press, the short leadin Wire 8 emerges from a second corner of the press,

the long lead-in wire 2 emerges from the third corner of the press and the legs of the hairpin emerge more centrally from the press and spaced from one another.

At a'station subsequent to the stations at which the stem has been thusly formed, the long lead-in wire 2 and the hairpin 4'are deflected outwardly as shown in FIG- URE 2 to provide room for the insertion of working tools to shape the short lead-in wires 6 and 8. As shown in FIGURE 3 each of the short lead-in wires 6 and 8 have been bent at two points to thereby define segments 6a, 6b and 6c in lead-in wire 6 and segments 8a, 8b and 8c in lead-in wire 8. In the right-hand illustration in FIG- URE 3 the article of work has been rotated counterclockwise from the position which it occupies in the lefthand illustration-of this figure and only a fragmentary portion of the long lead-in wire 2 and the hairpin 4 is shown. As shown in FIGURE 4, hooks 6d and 8d have been formed in the lead-in wires 6 and 8. As shown in FIGURE 5, the segment 60 of lead-in wire 6 and segment 8c of lead-in wire 8 are bent substantially 90 to define segments 6e and 8e respectively extending substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the stem and pointed toward one another in substantially the same horizontal plane. This completes the fabricating operations on the short lead-in wires, each of which is now disposed in a position to receive an end of a filament.

Fabricating operations are now performed on the long lead-in wire 2. As shown in the right-hand illustration in FIGURE 6, the long lead-in wire 2 is bent substantially as shown to define segments 2a and 2b. As shown in the left-hand illustration in FIGURE 6, the segment 2b is bent 90 counter-clockwise and then bent substantially 180 further counter-clockwise about a radius to a substantially paper clip type of configuration identified by the reference character 20. The paper clip 2c is then joined, as by welding for example, the segment 2b at 2d. The bight of the paper clip 20 is then severed and the two free ends formed thereby are flattened as shown in FIGURE 7. Thus the long lead-in wire has been provided from itself with an extra short wire 18 attached thereto and substantially parallel to the segment 2e thereof. As shown in FIGURE 8, the segment 2e of the long lead-in wire 2 is then rotated clockwise about 180 so that it is extending substantially parallel to but pointing in a substantially opposite direction fromthe direction in which the extra short wire 18 extends and hooks are formed on the ends of segment 2e and the extra short wire 18. The segment 2e of the long lead-in wire 2 and the extra short wire 18 are then shaped as shown in FIGURES 9 and 11 to thereby bring the hooks 2f and 18b respectively into substantially vertical alignment with the hooks 6d and 8d respectively formed on the free ends of the two short lead-in wires 6 and 8. Thus a pair of vertical aligned hooks have been provided on o-pposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the stem for receiving a pair of filaments. Lamp filaments 20 and 22 are then presented to these hooks and the hooks are closed about the ends thereof as shown in FIGURE 10.

Although we prefer to obtain the extra short wire 18 from the long lead-in wire 2 by the formation of paper clip 20, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that other means may be employed to provide the common lead-in wire, i.e., long lead-in wire 2 with a pair of hooks for receiving one end of a pair of filaments. For example, other forms of closed loops may be employed rather than the paper clip configuration. Alternatively, the long lead-in wire may be provided with a hook portion intermediate its ends as well as'a hook portion at the free end thereof, in which case one end of the two filaments would be secured to one of these two hook portions of the common lead-in wire.

The hairpin 4 of the filament support wire is shaped as shown in FIGURE 12 and the bight thereof is severed to define two separate filament support wires 4a and 412. As shown in FIGURE 13 the free ends of these two filament support wires 4a and 4b are bent inwardly substantially 90 and outside the filaments. The free ends of these filament support wires 4a and 4b are then looped around their respective filaments as shown in FIGURE 14. This completes the fabrication of the 3-lite lamp mount structure, an enlarged view of which is shown in FIG- URE 15 and identified generally by reference number 24.

In certain of FIGURES 2 to 14, some of the work components not directly involved in the operations illustrated in these particular figures have been omitted for clarity of illustration of the particular work components on which operations are being performed. Similarly,

certain reference numbers have been omitted in some of the figures for the same reason.

Further lamp manufacturing operations, utilizing the mount 24 of FIGURE 15 as one of the work components, are performed in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, the mount being hermetically sealed to a lamp envelope and a base afiixed thereto to provide a finished lamp.

What we claim is:

1. The method of fabricating a lamp mount which comprises positioning in spaced relationship a pair of short lead-in wires of substantially the same length and a single long lead-in wire within and extending through a substantially tubular stem, all of said wires being disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; positioning the free ends of a length of filament support wire, formed in a substantially hairpin shape, a short distance within an end of said substantially tubular stem, with the major portion of said hairpin disposed below said stem and the legs thereof lying substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; forming a press in said stem at said end thereof whereby the said lead-in wires and the said ends of said hairpin are all secured to said stern in spaced relationship with respect to one another and extend therefrom substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; bending each of said short lead-in wires in a direction substantially normal to and toward said longitudinal axis of said stem; forming a hook on the end of each of said bent portions of said short lead-in wires; forming a closed loop on the free end of said long lead-in wire; securing the returned end of said loop to said long lead-in wire; severing the bight of said loop, thereby defining a pair of legs on said long lead-in wire; forming a hook on the free end of each of said legs; shaping said legs in diverging direc tions from said long lead-in wire whereby they extend on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said stern and the hooks formed on the free ends thereof are disposed above and in register with the said hooks formed on the free ends of said short lead-in wires; securing a filament between each of said two pairs of vertically registered hooks; severing the bight of said hairpin, thereby defining two separate filament support wires; and looping each of the newly formed free ends of said filament support wires around one of said filaments intermediate the ends thereof.

2. The method of fabricating a lamp mount which comprises positioning in spaced relationship a pair of short lead-in wires of substantially the same length and a single long lead-in wire within and extending through a substantially tubular stern, all of said wires being disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; forming a press in said stem atan end thereof whereby the said lead-in-wires are all secured to said stem in spaced relationship with respect to one another and extend therefrom substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; bending each of said short lead-in wires in a direction substantially normal to and toward said longitudinal axis of said stem; forming a hook on the end of each of said bent portions of said short lead-in wires; forming a substantially rectangular closed loop on the free end of said long lead-in wire, with the longitudinal sides thereof substantially parallel, and substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of said stem; securing the returned end of said loop to said long lead-in wire; severing the bight of said loop, thereby defining a laterally extending leg of said long lead-in wire and an extra short wire secured at one end to said long lead-in wire, said leg and said extra short wire being substantially parallel to one another and extending in substantially the'same direction; forming a hook on the free end of each of said leg and said extra short wire; shaping said leg and said extra short wire in diverging directions from said long lead-in wire whereby they extend on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said stem and the hooks formed on the free ends thereof are disposed above and in register with the said hooks formed on the free ends of said short lead-in wires; and securing a filament between each of said two pairs of vertically registered hooks. 7

3. The method of fabricating a lamp mount which comprises positioning in spaced relationship'a pair of short lead-in wires of substantially the same length and a single AAA.

long lead-in wire within and extending through a substantially tubular stern, all of said Wires being disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; positioning the free ends of a length of filament support wire, formed in a substantially hairpin shape, a short distance within an end of said substantially tubular stem, with the major portion of said hairpin disposed below said stem and the legs thereof lying substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; forming a press in said stem at said end thereof whereby the said lead-in wires and the said ends of said hairpin are all secured to said stern in spaced relationship with respect to one another and extend therefrom substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stern; bending each of said short leadin wires in a direction substantially normal to and toward said longitudinal axis of said stern; forming a hook on the end of each of said bent portions of said short lead-in wires; forming a substantially rectangular closed loop on the free end of said long lead-in wire, with the longitudinal sides thereof substantially parallel and substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of said stern; securing the returned end of said loop to said long lead-in wire; severing the bight defining the side of said substantially rectangular closed loop opposite the side at which said returned end is secured to said long lead-in wire, thereby defining a laterally extending leg of said long lead-in Wire and an extra short wire secured at one end to said long lead-in wire; forming a hook on the free end of each of said leg and said extra short Wire; shaping said leg and said extra short wire in diverging directions from said long lead-in wire whereby they extend on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said stem and the hooks formed on the free ends thereof are disposed above and in register with the said hooks formed on the free ends of said short lead-in wires; securing a filament between each of said two pairs of vertically registered hooks; severing the bight of said hairpin, thereby defining two separate filament support wires; and looping each of the newly formed free ends of said filament support wires around one of said filaments intermediate the ends thereof.

4. The method of fabricating a lamp mount which comprises positioning in spaced relationship a pair of short lead-in Wires of substantially the same length and a single long lead-in Wire within and extending through a substantially tubular stern, all of said wires being disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stem; forming a press in said stem at an end thereof whereby the said lead-in wires are all secured to said stern in spaced relationship with respect to one another and extend therefrom substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stern; bending each of said short lead-in wires in a direction substantially normal to and toward said longitudinal axis of said stem; forming a hook on the end of each of said bent portions of said short lead-in wires; forming a closed loop on the free end of said long lead-in wire; securing the returned end of said loop to said long lead-in wire; severing the bight of said loop, thereby defining a pair of legs on said long lead-in wire; forming a hook on the free end of each of said legs; shaping said legs in diverging directions from said long lead-in wire whereby they extend on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said stern and the hook formed on the free ends thereof are disposed above and in register with the said hooks formed on the free ends of said short lead-in wires; and securing a filament between each of said two pairs of vertically registered hooks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,791,378 2/ 1931 Regenstreif 2925.2 X 1,821,894 9/1931 Otaka 2925.17 2,454,270 11/1948 Braunsdortf 2925. 13 3,075,120 1/ 1963 Schintzel 29--25 .17

RICHARD H. EANES, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. THE METHOD OF FABRICATING A LAMP MOUNT WHICH COMPRISES POSITIONING IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP A PAIR OF SHORT LEAD-IN WIRES OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LENGTH AND A SINGLE LONG LEAD-IN WIRE WITHIN AND EXTENDING THROUGH A SUBSTANTIALLY TUBULAR STEM, ALL OF SAID WIRES BEING DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID STEM; POSITIONING THE FREE ENDS OF A LENGTH OF FILAMENT SUPPORT WIRE, FORMED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY HAIRPIN SHAPE, A SHORT DISTANCE WITHIN AN END OF SAID SUBSTANTIALLY TUBULAR STEM, WITH THE MAJOR PORTION OF SAID HAIRPIN DISPOSED BELOW SAID STEM AND THE LEGS THEREOF LYING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID STEM; FORMING A PRESS IN SAID STEM AT SAID END THEREOF WHEREBY THE SAID LEAD-IN WIRES AND THE SAID ENDS OF SAID HAIRPIN ARE ALL SECURED TO SAID STEM IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER AND EXTEND THEREFROM SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID STEM; BENDING EACH OF SAID SHORT LEAD-IN WIRES IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO AND TOWARD SAID LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID STEM; 